10 December 2020

”Fortune favours the prepared mind,” as Louis Pasteur said, which stands true to this day, especially for companies continuously be planning for new opportunities. But what happens when a pandemic hits the world? Take a look at four examples of how companies embraced the Covid-19 pandemic with agility and resiliency

2:00 Min

1 Spotify: adjusting to customers’ new habits

With daily routines highly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, the music streaming giant needed to adapt to subscribers’ changing needs and adjust its content offering accordingly. Spotify noted that people are consuming different kinds of audio content in different places and claimed that “every day now looks like the weekend.” The company responded by investing in more podcasts. By fine-tuning its strategy, Spotify could adapt to users’ needs and successfully cope during tough times.

2 SoftBank Robotics: making the most of video-calls

When social distancing and travel restrictions were introduced, employees at SoftBank Robotics America had to re-imagine their selling strategies entirely. Specializing in high-end cleaning robots, employees used to go door-to-door as “vacuum salesmen 2.0” to sell their products. Using virtual backgrounds to show how -robots work has been a key part of their shift to remote sales. According to a NYT article, the new approach contributed to a boost in productivity and more online customer training sessions—making sales more efficient and less time-intensive.

3 Horderly: adding value through digital platforms

Horderly provides consulting services to people who want to transform their homes or offices into more comfortable spaces. Over the past few months, the company lost hundreds of billable hours, while the demand to reorganize spaces remained unchanged. The firm created a virtual organising service to offer solutions to customers, providing remote consultations to clients stuck at home. By delivering on customer needs through innovative platforms, the company successfully maintained a thriving business.

4 Peloton: adopting new strategies to expand business

The New York City-based exercise equipment company sells stationary bicycles and offers interactive gym lessons to its subscribers. As reported by Gartner, while the pandemic was forcing people indoors, the firm sought to widen its customer base by providing ready-to-use home fitness services. The company adjusted its strategy by launching a free trial period through its app, which increased downloads fivefold. Peloton went further to ensure its customers’ safety with home delivery options and technicians assembling bikes outside.